Do You Still Blush?
by Dirigible0Plums
Summary: Steven had convinced her earth wasn't the same world she'd been trapped by, and she'd told him she wanted to see more of it. Peridot had already taught her a few things, but maybe it was time she go out and learn more? And who better to show her more of the earth than...a human? An unexpected human at that.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note_ : Okay, so I should really be working on my Harry Potter fanfic...or the work that actually pays for my living, but no. I went on a Steven Universe binge and remembered an idea I had written down a few months ago for a potential story, not really thinking I'd ever actually write it. Then after my little binge I decided, why not, let's just go for it, and now here we are.

Warning, I'm making no profit of this story or own anything in the Steven Universe universe (lol). I'm not talented enough as Rebecca Sugar to have created something so pure and good and amazing as Steven Universe.

oOo

Chapter 1

"Laramie?"

Lars stared out the window, wishing he was anywhere but where he was. There were about a hundred things he would rather be doing at the moment. Hanging out with the Cool Kids. Jumping on his backyard trampoline. Watching a wrestling match or a scary movie. Maybe trying a new recipe.

"Lars?"

Even sitting at the Big Donut chewing on a maple bar and listening to music would be preferable to this.

"Lars!"

Lars blinked, returning to reality, and looked into the faces of his concerned and disappointed parents and his impatient and angry school principal.

"Lars _please_ ," his mother implored him, her eyes crinkling in a half smile he knew was meant to encourage him. "This is _important_."

"Principal Mazur here is giving you another chance," Lars' dad agreed, a hopeful expression on his face.

"Do you even care at all Mr. Barriga?" Principal Mazur asked dryly, clearly not as patient with the whole situation as Lars' parents were. "I know you've been to many of these types of meetings with teachers and counselors, but you should know, a meeting with _me_ warrants a little more attention and interest."

Lars snorted, crossing his arms and looking out the window again in a show of indifference. He thought that if he stopped making eye contact, they wouldn't see what he was really feeling, which was worry. He was worried because Principal Mazur was right.

Lars was on the brink of failing out of senior year of high school and not graduating on time. In the past year he'd had countless meetings with teachers and counselors and his parents in an attempt to relay to him the gravity of his poor grades in school, and now it had come to this. One final attempt at scaring him straight in the hopes that he finally focus and improve in school.

Lars would never admit it out loud, especially to his parents, but he _was_ worried. Worried that he _would_ fail out of high school and be stuck working in the mediocrity of The Big Donut forever and never leave Beach City and be a loser for the rest of his life. Despite those worries, he was equally worried that if he _did_ try harder, he and his parents would see that all he was capable of being _was_ mediocrity, and he doubted that any amount of tutoring and parent conferences would raise his grades up high enough for him to graduate. If he tried, he'd have to face his mediocrity straight on, and he wasn't sure he could handle that.

So instead of trying, he simply...didn't. He occasionally made half-hearted attempts at homework and turned in incomplete work, but for the most part he didn't even write down what his assignments were. Sometimes, when what his teachers were talking about was actually interesting, he'd listen in class, but mostly he slept. That is, when he wasn't ditching.

And now he was here, listening to his parents and principal argue over what to do with him.

Lars slouched deeper into his chair, crossing his arms tighter around himself defensively.

Principal Mazur leveled him with an impatient gaze. "This is your final warning Mr. Barriga. If your grades don't improve, you won't be graduating from Beach City High. And I'm afraid that if you don't, considering your past record here, we may not be able to offer you enrollment next year. You'll have to see if Ocean Town High School will take you. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

It wasn't the first time Lars had heard that particular threat, only now hearing it from his principal it was starting to sound more like a promise.

Lars frowned, "Can I go now?"

Principal Mazur looked like he was on the point of exploding, meanwhile his parents frowned at him with crestfallen expressions.

Not being able to stand the looks his parents were given him, Lars grabbed his favorite red jacket and walked out of Principal Mazur's office without a backwards glance.

It wasn't until Lars had stepped off of school property that he finally felt like he could breathe.

He looked up at the sky. The sun would set soon, and he needed something to distract himself from this whole debacle if he didn't want his day to end on such a sour note.

With a sigh, he walked in no particular direction, waiting for something to present itself as a amusement.

As he walked, he saw the Cool Kids hanging around outside Fish Stew Pizza. Lars gasped, stopping in his tracks at the sight of them. The Cool Kids would be the perfect distraction.

Lars quickly ran his hands through his hair, making sure it was as he liked it, then taking a deep breath and standing straighter as he approached them.

"Uh, hey Buck! Hey Sour Cream! Hey Jenny!" Lars waved his hands erratically, already regretting and hating the too-eager tone in his voice.

"Oh hey Lars!" Jenny waved back, friendly enough.

"What's up man," Sour Cream nodded.

"Yo." Buck simply rose his hand in greeting.

When no one said anything else, Lars nervously jumped from foot to foot, unsure if he should stick around or go on his way. "So, what are you guys up to?"

Buck shrugged but Sour Cream answered for him. "We're going to take a little trip to the hills outside Beach City where there's corn growing and make crop circles. We got the idea from _Signs_."

"What?! That's so cool! I love that movie!" For once it was actually an honest admission and not just an attempt to make himself more likeable for the Cook Kids. Lars really did like _Signs_. It was one of the first movies he'd ever watched with Sadie.

"Want to come Lars?" Jenny invited with a wink.

Lars blushed, not quite able to believe that without hardly even trying, he'd somehow gotten himself a genuine invitation from the Cool Kids to hang out with them. He'd just been honest.

The cornfields Sour Cream had been talking about were on a hill about a half hour outside of Beach City, but Lars didn't mind the drive. He was basking in the sunset glow, enjoying the breeze in his hair as he listened to Sour Cream's tunes and the Cook Kids' conversation. It felt good to get out of Beach City's city limits. It made him feel like he was driving away from all of his problem. It was easy to forget about that terrible meeting he'd had to sit through with Principal Mazur and his parents.

When they arrived, Buck shared the sketch he'd made of the intricate designs he wanted made in the wide expanse of corn fields. Lars nodded, studying it closely so that he wouldn't screw it up and ruin the one time things seemed to be going alright with the Cool Kids.

When Sour Cream handed him a scythe, the nervousness returned a little, Lars having never handled a scythe before. But he wasn't about to not accept something Buck was handing him, so standing a little straighter, Lars took the scythe.

The four then spread out into the fields and began to work, the faint sound of Sour Cream's music still playing from Jenny's car where it was parked just out of where the corn field started. Lars tested the weight and swing of it before setting to work.

Lars alternated between chopping down corn and trying out some dance moves, feeling safe within the privacy the corn stalks offered, shielding him from the Cool Kids' view.

It was as Lars was dancing that he was startled by a curdling scream in the distance that sounded far too much like Jenny.

Lars gasped, turning to where the sound had come from, but not being able to see through the tall corn stalks.

Lars thought he saw something fly overhead but he was not quick enough to get a good look.

Then, far off, Lars could hear a shrill voice shouting. "How dare you disturb my experiment! How dare you cut down the corn I have grown in my image! You humans will pay!"

Lars froze, hearing the sounds of the Cool Kids yelling in the distance, and what sounded like running feet bursting through the corn stalks.

"Guys?" Lars asked, but his voice was a whisper and far too quiet for anyone to hear. The yelling and running was too spread out for Lars to focus on, too confusing for Lars to pinpoint where exactly in the field the Cool Kids were. Not to mention, Lars was to frozen in place to even move after hearing what they were yelling.

"Yo, this green kid is crazy!"

A shrill voice shouted, "I AM NOT A KID!"

"Ow! That hurt!"

"We need to get out of here!"

"Quick!"

"Wait! Where's Lars?"

"Lars!"

Lars blinked, snapping out of it. He had to get out of here before he found out just what had made Jenny scream.

"I'm over here!" Lars shouted, about to take his chances heading into the corn plants when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, far too close for comfort.

Panicked, Lars whipped around, trembling as he held his scythe in front of him, trying to see amongst the plants for the source of the noise, but the sun was already mostly set and he struggled to see clearly through the corn.

"Did you hear him?"

"Lars! Where are you?"

"Jenny we have to go!"

Lars heard the sound of Jenny's car turning on and he knew that if he didn't move now, he'd be left behind. But Lars was too frozen in fear to move.

He wanted to yell at the Cool Kids, tell them to wait for him, but he was too focused on the footsteps that were getting louder coming from within the corn stalks. They were moving quicker and quicker, and Lars yelped, shaking so much he was afraid he'd drop the scythe, his only weapon.

The footsteps became even louder, and quicker, and then, just as Lars was certain something was about to burst out of the corn field...they stopped.

Lars could hear the sound of his heavy breathing as he waited. He wanted to run away, to move! But his feet weren't listening.

In a move that was uncharacteristic for Lars, he stepped forward, the scythe held out straight in front of him. Lars wasn't sure how many moments passed, and just when he thought that maybe whatever it was that had been hiding in the corn field had gone away, a tall figure jumped through and out of the crops.

Lars yelped and stepped backwards and away, but he tripped over something and fell backwards, dropping his scythe in the process.

Lars groaned, wincing momentarily at the pain in his back from having fallen. He was vaguely aware of the sound of Jenny's car driving away and the shrill voice still shouting, although it was becoming fainter as whoever the voice belonged to was presumably chasing after the Cool Kids that had managed to escape.

As the waves of pain began to fade, Lars gasped, remembering what it was that had caused him to fall in the first place.

With dread, Lars pushed himself up on his elbows and look up to face whatever it was that had emerged from the corn stalks. The further up Lars' eyes traveled, the less his body shook in fear as he realized that what he was looking up at wasn't a strange creature or a monster.

Lars was looking up at the figure of...a girl?

She was tall and barefooted, and sported an unimpressed expression on her face as she leveled her steady gaze on him.

Lars was used to unimpressed looks from people, and the fact that the girl was barefooted in the middle of the cornfield in the dark wasn't even what was throwing him off so much. What was throwing him off was that this girl was, well, different.

What was throwing him off was that this girl was...blue.

oOo

 _Authors Note_ : Alright, so I'm planning on writing only one more chapter and making this a short two-shot even though my original outline was for something a little longer. I may or may not write more than just two chapters and really flesh this idea out if my life isn't too crazy (especially since I'd be able to better explain the reason why I chose the title for this story), but we'll see! Let me know what you think so far!


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note_ : Here's the next chapter! A little longer than the last one, but still shorter than my usual. Either way, hope you enjoy!

oOo

Chapter 2

Lapis yawned, stretching her limbs as she lazed about in her hammock, staring up at the barn ceiling. She had been sleeping, just like Steven had taught her, but Peridot's endless tinkering had woken her up.

It was just as well. She'd been having a nightmare anyway. She'd been in cold, wet, crushing darkness. She could see nothing, only feel the strain of keeping Jasper trapped, the amount of energy she'd had to maintain for months on end. The feeling of being fused with someone she wanted nothing more than to get away from but not being able to turned her stomach inside out. It was terrible, it was sickening, it was-

"Lapis! I need your help! This isn't turning out how I wanted it to!"

Peridot's shrill shrieking pulled Lapis back out before she sank back into the hole of that terrible nightmare again.

Lapis sighed and hopped out of the hammock, going out into the cornfields to find Peridot.

She found the bottom half of the small green gem. The top half of her was hidden from Lapis' view as she was on the floor and under another one of Peridot's metal inventions. Peridot's heels were pounding on the dirt floor in frustration as she tinkered under the large metal contraption.

"What are you doing?" Lapis drawled.

With a frustrated yell, Peridot came out from underneath the hunk of metal and threw her hands up, fury on her face. "I'm trying to make this thing fly so that I can more efficiently water all the corn crops! I've been working on this for days! Do you even listen to me?"

Lapis rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. She cared about Peridot, but she had the tendency to be a little dramatic. "Peridot, Steven told us we should have chopped down the corn in the fall season. It's months past their harvest time. You can't just keep watering them like this so they overgrow."

Peridot gasped, clutching a hand to her chest as though Lapis had just struck the smaller gem with an arrow. "Are you seriously suggesting that I _chop_ these beautiful crops down like they mean _nothing_? As if I had not created them in my image? The longer they stay planted, the more they grow and the more powerful they become!"

"Peridot, they're not sentient. They're not going to become stronger soldiers because you keep them in the ground for longer. They're not gems. They're food, for humans."

"How dare you speak of them this way! Do they really mean so little to you? After all the time we've spent growing them, nurturing them! You want to just throw it all away? I can't believe-"

"Ugh! Fine! Alright!" Lapis sighed, knowing it was impossible to argue with Peridot when she got this worked up. "What do you need me to do?"

Peridot blinked, not used to getting Lapis to agree to her whims so easily. Peridot cackled in triumph before she winked at Lapis and shot her a thumbs up. "I need you for...moral support!"

Again, Lapis liked Peridot, but there were still times the gem was testing her patience.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Lapis nodded and sat on one of the nearby lawn chairs and began rifling through the stack of Noice magazines Peridot had left there.

Lapis read through the articles for a few minutes, but she found herself not quite able to concentrate. She'd already read all these magazines at least five times before since her stay at the barn had begun. She'd already gone through all of the available reading material available at the barn more than once actually.

Lapis paused, setting her Noice magazine down on her lap as she took a moment to observe this little patch of earth she and Peridot had made a home for themselves in, in all it's sunset glory.

It was a peaceful existence, and one she had been enjoying for the past couple of months. The days moved slowly here at the barn, filled with either tending to the crops, watching Peridot create new metal inventions, reading, sleeping, playing with her tambourine, making meep morps, watching Camp Pining Hearts, and the occasional visit from Steven and the other Crystal Gems.

It wasn't a bad existence, a little mundane perhaps to an outsider's point of view, but after everything Lapis had gone through the past few thousand years, it was exactly what she needed. The barn was a great place to slowly ease herself into being an earth resident.

Lapis sighed, a content smile on her face as she leaned back in her chair and stared at the sun setting over the corn fields, enjoying the light breeze in her hair.

She smiled.

Moments like these on earth were actually worth enjoying.

Still, as the sun set, Lapis couldn't help but feel like maybe something was...missing.

Lapis frowned.

What could possibly be missing? She had a place to call home, some possessions, company, Steven, safety, for the time being at least, and more importantly, she was _free_ for the first time in thousands of years.

"Lapis! I can't see anymore! Will you help me take this inside the barn?" Peridot asked.

Lapis nodded and got up, using her water powers to help Peridot bring her invention into the barn so that Peridot could continue working on it.

When Peridot was sufficiently distracted enough with her work, Lapis decided to go up to the truck balcony she and Peridot had created to watch Camp Pining Hearts.

Once up there though, after turning on the tv, Lapis was only half listening to the episode playing in the background. Lapis wrapped her arms around her knees and stared up at the moon, closing her eyes as she concentrated on the moon's pull on her powers.

Not far from the moon, Lapis knew that if she opened her eyes she'd be able to see Homeworld's galaxy from where she sat.

Lapis frowned, thinking over everything of the past couple of months.

When she'd finally escaped that horrid mirror, all she had wanted and could think about was getting home, and when she finally did, it had been so...different. It wasn't the same beautiful home she had remembered. So much had changed.

Then Steven had convinced her the earth wasn't the same world she'd been trapped by either, and she'd eventually given in and told him she wanted to see more of it. She'd been set up at the barn and started to learn. Peridot had already taught her a few things during their time there, but...there was only so much one could continue to learn in the unvarying peacefulness of the barn, each following day not so different from the one before.

Lapis blinked, finally opening her eyes to look over to where she could faintly see the lights coming from Beach City where Steven and the Crystal Gems lived.

Maybe...it was time she go out and learn more?

Lapis scoffed, looking away from Beach City and glaring down at her bare toes. What was she thinking?

She didn't need to know more about earth. She knew enough from what she had gathered from her time in the barn, and while she didn't necessarily _love_ earth, she could at least tolerate it. If she went out and tried to learn more, she couldn't promise she would remain so tolerant. Acceptance was good enough for her. Why try to shake things up?

With that thought in mind, Lapis sighed and laid down, setting her gaze on the tv screen, allowing Percy and Paulette's declarations of love soothe her to sleep.

The next day, as the sun was setting, Lapis was working on a new meep morp when Peridot started jumping and cheering in triumph, nearly making Lapis accidentally ruin her morp when Peridot knocked into her.

"Careful," Lapis warned, securing her morp before turning to see where Peridot was prancing in circles around the metal invention she had been working on. Lapis smiled, happy for her friend's success and raised her thumb at her the way Steven did. "You finally did it."

"Yes! Yes! I did it! I am the most brilliant Peridot in all the lands! Bow to me! Bask in my greatness!" Peridot cackled.

Upon seeing Lapis' raised eyebrow though, Peridot quickly cleared her throat and chuckled, "I mean-Thank you."

Lapis laughed and Peridot joined her, until they heard something coming from far into the corn fields. Both gems paused, straining their ears to hear what it was that was coming from the crops.

"It's...music?" Lapis tilted her head, confused.

"Are...are my crops making music?" Peridot asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

The two turned to each other before they both ran up to the second level of the barn to reach the truck balcony so they could get a better view of the corn fields.

"Where is it coming from?" Peridot growled, jumping on the boxy tv in an attempt to get a better view.

Lapis narrowed her eyes, the setting sun making it only slightly difficult to see, but after a moment she gasped.

"It's...humans." Her eyes widened and she hesitated before she told Peridot what she was seeing. "And they're chopping the corn stalks down in very specific and intricate patterns."

"They're WHAT?!" Peridot shouted.

And then the green gem was running into the barn, jumping into her newly working invention, and leaping into the cornfields to defend her crops.

Lapis could hear Peridot shouting. "How dare you disturb my experiment! How dare you cut down the corn I have grown in my image! You humans will pay!"

She also heard the terrified screams of the humans in the fields.

Lapis sighed, thinking she better get in there and make sure Lapis didn't kill the defenseless humans. She didn't think Steven would be too pleased to find injured humans lying in the corn fields the next time he came to visit.

Lapis willed her water wings from her gem and flew over to the cornfields, landing elegantly amongst the stalks and deciding to go the rest of the way on foot.

Through the stalks Lapis paused when she saw one of the humans, a male human, holding what looked like a weapon.

Lapis tilted her head her head. Was this some sort of human warrior? Did they have those?

A closer look though and Lapis saw that the human was trembling. He was frightened.

If this was a human warrior, he wasn't really a good one.

He was listening to his human friends and Peridot shouting in the distance, and then the human boy shouted, the fear clear in his voice. "I'm over here!"

Lapis walked closer towards the boy, and he heard her. The boy whipped around, trembling and barely able to hold his scythe straight.

Lapis frowned when the human boy turned around, there was obvious fear on his face, but that wasn't so much what got Lapis. It was the fact that this human boy looked vaguely familiar. Lapis walked quicker towards him, ignoring the sounds of the other humans and Peridot still shouting. She was too focused on this human.

She stopped when there were only a few corn stalks separating her from this frightened human boy. If the sun had still been up, the boy might have been able to see her, but with it having now set, Lapis was able to observe the boy from the safety of darkness.

Lapis tilted her head, wracking her mind as she tried to figure out why this human seemed so familiar when she'd had such limited experience with them.

Then it came to her.

This human boy was one of the many humans Lapis had seen through the mirror she had been trapped in when Steven had taken her through a tour of Beach City.

She remembered Steven had crashed into this human boy and knocked him and a table over and the boy had been upset. And then he'd been quickly distracted going on and on and on about 'beach babes,' whatever those were.

Lapis wondered what 'beach babes' were. Was it another strange human thing she was unfamiliar with?

It was another reminder of how much she still had to learn about earth.

Lapis was pulled from her thoughts when the human boy suddenly took a brave step forward, a look of determination on his face despite how terribly he was shaking.

Intrigued, Lapis decided to finally step out of the cornfields and into the moonlight where the human boy could see her.

As soon as she stepped out into the moonlight, the human yelped and stepped backwards, tripping and falling onto his back in the process, his weapon falling far from his reach.

As the human boy groaned, Lapis raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

She was completely convinced now that this was certainly _not_ a human warrior.

The boy finally remembered himself and looked up at her, eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"Wh-Who are you?" The boy finally asked, voice trembling.

Lapis tilted her chin a little higher. "I'm Lapis Lazuli."

The name sounded vaguely familiar to Lars, and he narrowed his eyes, trying to search his frightened mind for a hint of how he knew this strange girl before him. She obviously wasn't of this world, but she also wasn't one of those other aliens he usually saw hanging out with Steven. Then, Lars eyes widened when he remembered. "Wait, I know you! You're the one who stole the entire ocean last summer!"

Lapis' eyes widened a little in surprise as well before she crossed her arms defensively, bristling as she avoided eye contact and huffed, "I put it all back."

"W-Wait, you're not going to take _me_ away too, are you?" The human boy squeaked.

Lapis scoffed. As if _she_ would want a useless human in her possession.

"Relax. I'm not going to take you away or hurt you. But you should probably get back to wherever it was you came from before Peridot finds you. She's not too happy about what you and your human friends did to her plants." Lapis warned.

The human boy shook a little, blinking, as though wondering whether or not to believe her. He looked over in the direction of where his friends had been before he groaned, closing his eyes as though in pain. "Damn, Buck and them are probably halfway back to Beach City by now."

And then, an idea occurred to Lapis.

It was crazy, and something she would have never considered weeks ago, but now…

She had said she wanted to see more of earth, and Peridot had done her best to show her as much as she could from the barn. She'd gotten a view of it from afar that day of her flying adventure with Steven. She'd toured a bit of Beach City as a mirror, but she hadn't really gotten a chance to _experience_ it.

But as Lapis stared down at this human boy on the floor before her, she couldn't help but think, who better to show her more about the earth than...a human? A full fledged human.

Staring down at this strange-looking human boy, Lapis frowned, wanting to be absolutely sure.

"Human." She simply said, waiting for a reply.

The human boy looked at her again, eye furrowed with confusion. "What?"

"You are a human aren't you?" Lapis asked exasperatedly.

It was her tone that set him off. "Don't I look like a human?" Lars roared, outraged by the question and momentarily forgetting the fear he'd felt earlier.

Lapis crouched down, wrapping an arm around her knees while her free hand pointed at his ears, "Your head appendages look different. They have...large drooping holes."

Lars gaped at her disbelievingly.

"And you're missing some hair on the sides. Are you an older human like Steven's 'dad?'" she asked seriously.

Lars' eyes narrowed angrily and he muttered something about 'style.'

At Lapis' still raised eyebrow, he sighed, his fear completely forgotten now and replaced with annoyance at her questions, not to mention how uncomfortable he was feeling with how closely the blue girl had leaned into him as she observed him. "Yes, I am a human!"

Lapis starred, and then nodded. "Alright. You'll do."

Lars sputtered. " _I'll do_? What do you mean _I'll do_? I thought you said you weren't going to steal me!"

Lapis rolled her eyes, suddenly wondering if this was such a good idea after all. "Oh calm down. I promise I'm not going to hurt you or take you away, but there _is_ something I need you to do for me."

Lars stammered, suddenly nervous about what this alien was about to ask of him. "Uh, what do you need?"

Lapis stood then, holding her hand out to him in an offer to help him up. She looked directly into his eyes and said simply, "Teach me."

Lars stared up into her large eyes, noticing that they were different from when he'd first seen her. When that tall, thin alien of Steven's had showed the townspeople a holographic representation of Lapis, her eyes had looked different then. Milky white and reflective. Now though, they were royal blue, a color not dissimilar from her hair and skin...and her dress. She seemed to really like blue.

Lars shook his head, shaking away his distracting thoughts before he got up, ignoring Lapis' offered hand and wiping the dirt from his clothes. "What do you mean _teach_ you? Teach you what?"

"About earth of course!" Lapis said as though it were obvious. "About humanity and this world and...everything!"

Lars frowned, confused and unsure how to respond. He didn't know how to tell her no without risking angering her and making her go back on her promise not to hurt her.

"Um, well that's kind of a big project," Lars tried to explain, rubbing at the back of his nervously. Then, remembering his afternoon meeting with Principal Mazur, he narrowed his eyes and muttered, "And I'm not too great at big projects."

Lapis stared at him, as though considering something before shrugging. "Then start small. Like, just Beach City."

Lars practically recoiled. "What could you possibly want to to learn about Beach City. It's the worst place in the world."

Lapis narrowed her eyes. "Steven likes it."

"Then why don't you get Steven to show you Beach City?"

Lapis opened her mouth and then sighed. "It's...complicated. Steven loves Beach City and he wants me to love earth. I want to see more of this world like I told him I would, but...well, I guess I want to make my own decision about whether I like it here or not."

Lars considered the strange blue girl that called herself Lapis. There was something about the frown on her face that made him want to...help her. He hated Beach City most times and had a hard time finding anything about it that he liked. While Lapis hadn't outright said she hated Beach City, she was definitely trying to find something about it that she did like about it, and that, if anything else, was something Lars could relate to.

The problem was, he'd had enough experience with Steven to know that anything involving magic and 'gems' from foreign planets never ended well for him.

Still, he needed to get out of this cornfield _somehow_.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Lapis blinked, and stared at him, as though she hadn't quite heard him. "You-What?"

"I'll do it. I'll show you more of Beach City." Lars told her.

She actually smiled. "Really?"

"Uh, sure," Lars chuckled nervously.

"Alright then, let's go." Lapis started to walk away.

"Wait, what, now?" Lars asked, causing her to stop.

"Well, why not?" Lapis frowned.

"It's just, ah, um. Well it's just it's late, you know. There's not much to see in Beach City right now." Lars scrambled for a way to get out of this. "What about tomorrow morning?"

Lapis considered the proposition before nodding. "Alright. Where should I meet you?"

Lars blinked, "Uh, what about Funland? Have you heard of it"

Lapis nodded.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning." Lapis confirmed.

Lars rubbed his neck nervously, taking a few tentative steps backward. "Alright, well, I should be getting back now, but, I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned around and was almost gone when Lapis called after him, "Wait!"

Lars swallowed a curse. He'd been so close to getting out of there!

Lars took a deep breath and turned around, eyebrows raised in question at the blue girl who was still staring after him.

Lapis tilted her head. "What is your name? What should I call you?"

Lars wasn't sure why he blushed. "Um, It's Lars. You can call me Lars."

"Lars," Lapis tested the name before nodded. "Alright then. Goodbye Lars."

Lars simply nodded quickly before scurrying away. He managed to catch a bus back to Beach City, and when he arrived home the first thing he did was collapse into bed.

As he stared up at his ceiling, he thought about that last exchange with the blue alien. He should have lied and not told her his real name, but it had escaped him before he could stop it.

Lars frowned, turning over on his side, curling into a ball.

He'd lied to Lapis. He had no intention of showing up at Funland tomorrow morning. He'd be at school, a fact he'd neglected to tell the blue alien when he'd told her to meet him at Funland. He figured by the time she realized he'd ditched her, should she decide to go looking for him, he'd be within the safety of the school hallways, a place he doubted aliens really knew about since not even Steven went to school.

He smirked to himself as he fell asleep, exhausted from the day's event. It was a good plan.

The next morning, Lars sat in first period staring smugly outside the window.

Stupid alien, Lars thought as he ignored his history teacher drone on and on. He could just imagine that blue freak sitting on a bench outside the entrance to Funland, wondering where he was.

He smirked.

And then he frowned, feeling an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. He shifted in his seat but it didn't go away, and soon it was lunch time and Lars realized that what he was feeling was guilt.

Lars moved glumly sliding his tray down the cafeteria line, allowing the lunch ladies to drop the slop they called food onto his plate.

When Lars was through the lunch line, he looked across the tables, his eyes automatically zoning in on where the Cool Kids were sitting.

Lars blinked, surprised at the fact that in all the wildness of meeting Lapis Lazuli, he'd somehow completely forgotten about the Cool Kids and whether the'd made it back alright.

Lars approached them, and as soon as they caught sight of him they jumped up, shouting his name.

"You're alright!" Jenny cried, coming forward to wrap her arms around him in a hug that had him blushing and sputtering nervously.

"Uh, yea, I got out alright. Are you guys okay," Lars asked, dizzy from the hug Jenny had give him.

"We're alright, are you alright man? Last night was wild. We tried to wait, but we couldn't find you anywhere! What happened?" Sour Cream asked him.

"I uh, I just, I got a little lost but I managed to get away," Lars said, not really sure how to explain his encounter with Lapis.

"Did that little green dude see you?" Buck asked.

"Green dude? No, I didn't run into anyone...thankfully," Lars chuckled, rubbing at his neck.

"How 'bout you sit with us Lars. After that wild night, I feel a little closer to you," Buck said, and Lars tried not to faint in happiness. Even Jenny and Sour Cream looked surprised at the invitation, but they quickly shrugged and smiled at Lars.

This was the first time he'd been invited to sit with the Cool Kids at their lunch table. He'd dreamed of this day for years, and he did his best not to trip now on his way to his seat or to appear to eager.

Lars sat with Buck, Jenny, and Sour Cream, discreetly looking at all the other high school students to see if they saw that he, Lars Barriga, was actually sitting with the Cool Kids. He noticed a few looks of approval, and Lars sat a little straighter, feeling like he was on top of the world.

Lars took his fork and was just about to take his first bite of lunch when he remembered the little pit of guilt that was still in his belly and not going away. Lars looked down at his lunch, suddenly not sure that he'd be able to keep anything down.

Lars looked over to where the school gate was, wide open and easily accessible for anyone to go in out of.

Lars continued to stare, wondering if he had somehow gone crazy because of what he was debating in his mind. He actually felt _bad_ thinking about how he'd knowingly abandoned Lapis after he'd promised her he would show her more of this weird city he lived in.

Lars wasn't unused to feeling bad about his actions, but usually when he felt bad about things it was because he'd hurt or been mean to someone he cared about, like his parents or Sadie. But Lars didn't care about Lapis. He didn't even know Lapis. She wasn't even _human_! She was alien and blue and _weird_ , and _weird_ was what he hated about Beach City so much in the first place. Because of people like Steven and his strange family that _made_ it weird.

And yet for some reason, he felt bad about abandoning Lapis Lazuli?

Lars curled his hands into a fist, hating that he was even considering what he was considering.

Here he was, finally sitting at lunch with the Cool Kids for all of Beach City High to see, and he was thinking about a strange blue alien?

Was he insane?

Lars groaned and slammed his lunch tray away from him, startling the Cool Kids.

"Whoa."

"You ok Lars?"

"Wow, cool it dude."

But Lars barely listened to their protests.

"Damn," Lars muttered to himself, and then his mind was made up to ditch the rest of the day and he was running to and through the school gate.

Lars just ran.

When he made it to Funland, he was out of breath and there was a painful pinch in his side he was clutching, but he was distractedly looking from side to side, muttering to himself. How hard could it possibly be to spot a girl with blue skin and hair in the middle of the day at the boardwalk?

And then he spotted her, sitting on a bench just outside the Funland entrance, her hands folded neatly in her lap, just as he'd imagined her.

Lapis noticed him as well, and she blinked at his breathless figure from across the boardwalk, her expression unreadable.

Lars was catching his breath as he stared at her. She didn't look relieved or happy to see him, but she didn't even really look upset as though she'd spent all morning waiting in that exact spot for him.

And then… the corner of her lips twitched in what could possibly be called a near-smile.

Lars blinked, feeling warmth gathering on his cheeks.

He coughed and cleared his throat, standing a little straighter as he approached the strange blue girl, ready to show her a day at Beach City Funland.

oOo

 _Author's Note_ : Ok, so I had told myself I would leave this as a two-shot, but for some reason this fanfic has made itself really easy for me to write and I've already written snippets of future chapters in my excitement. With that said, expect a few more chapters of this fanfic before I label it 'completed!'


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note_ : I have no self-control. With that said, here's the third chapter of the fanfic that was supposed to have been only a two-shot. Enjoy!

oOo

Chapter 3

Any readiness that Lars had previously felt immediately evaporated once he was standing right in front of Lapis. She didn't stand with his arrival, remaining seated on the bench she had chosen. How did one greet a strange alien you hardly knew?

Lapis took care of that by greeting him simply. "Hi."

Uh, hi," Lars replied, even more unsure now that the ball was in his court. So he said what he figured most polite people would say, not because he wanted to be polite, but because he wasn't all that sure that Lapis wouldn't hurt him. "Ehm, sorry if I kept you waiting."

Lapis blinked. "I wasn't waiting that long."

Lars decided to change tactics and just get right into it. "Ehm, anyway, so this is Beach City Funland: amusement park and carnival in one."

Lapis nodded, staring thoughtfully into the Funland entrance meanwhile Lars was eyeing her bare feet. "So, still not wearing shoes huh."

And on that note, Lapis narrowed her eyes at him, got up, and made her way into Funland. Lars facepalmed and gathered himself before catching up to Lapis who was looking around at all the bright things there were to look at in the amusement park.

"So," Lapis began, ignoring Lars' previous comment. "What does one _do_ exactly at... _Funland_?"

Lars frowned, not having been to Funland in...a couple of years actually.

"Well, the usual, I guess. There's rides and games and food and we just...have fun," Lars tried to explain. When Lapis blinked, still not getting it, Lars thought maybe it would be better to just show her. "Come on. We'll need to buy tickets first."

Lars led Lapis to the ticket booth where Mr. Smiley was sitting, that ever-present grin on his face. "Hey kids! Welcome to Beach City Funland, here to fill all your amusement dreams! How many tickets can I get for you today?"

Lars looked up at all their options, considering what were the best stops at Funland. "Tickets for the carousel, the tilt-a-whirl, teacup ride, ferris wheel, bumpers cars, House of Mirrors, three carnival games, and The Appalachian."

"Is that for one or for two?" Mr. Smiley asked.

Lars blinked and turned around to look at Lapis who was still distracted observing Funland. He eyed her skirt that was pocket-less and noted the fact that she didn't even carry a purse like some girls did.

"You wouldn't happen to have any money on you, do you?"

Lapis tilted her head at him. "Money?"

Lars groaned, reaching for his wallet and pulling out various bills before slamming it down on Mr. Smiley's ticket counter, grumbling, "For two."

Mr. Smiley handed over the appropriate number of tickets, a large cheshire cat smile on his face. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Lars fought back the urge to stick his tongue out at him and turned around, holding out Lapis' half of the tickets out to her, ignoring the lighter weight of the wallet in his pocket.

Lapis smiled, taking her half of the tickets, seemingly not at all noticing Lars' annoyance. "Where to first?"

And so Lapis learned about what it was like to spend a day at Funland.

It was strange being at Funland at this time of day. Although summer was fast approaching, most people were still in school. Not to mention it was still early afternoon in the middle of the week.

It was the reason Lars and Lapis didn't spend too long in the bumper cars. It turned out that bumper cars were kind of boring when there was only one other person you could bump into or be bumped by. It was sort of predictable. Besides, Lapis didn't really see the point of it. She had a similar reaction to The House of Mirrors as well.

They went on the carousel, the tilt-a-whirl, and the teacup ride. Lapis seemed a little more impressed by those rides, despite the fact that she didn't laugh or scream the way most people would while on the rides.

They used their carnival tickets on the soda toss, balloon popping, and skee ball. For each of these games, Lapis' concentration was so hard Lars wasn't at all surprised when she won an alien blow-up toy.

"For Peridot," Lapis had said, whatever a _Peridot_ was.

Lars thought Lapis must have enjoyed the ferris wheel as well. When they were at the very top, Lapis had smiled and pressed her hand against the glass.

When they were done with that, the two walked along the Funland boardwalk.

"So, those are really the only places sort of worth going into I guess," Lars sighed, digging his hands into his pockets. At the sound of exhilarated screaming from above, Lars tilted his head. "Well, besides The Appalachian I guess."

Lapis followed his gaze up to the high- speed roller coaster. There were only a few people on it, but they were screaming their heads off with the strength of twenty people.

"Is that the ride with the height restriction?" Lapis asked, remembering when Peridot had told her about where the green gem had gotten her green blow-up toy that now lived in their aquarium. For the most part, Peridot had good things to say about the 'amusement park,' but she definitely had quarrels with The Appalachian for it's exclusionary height restriction.

"What? Oh yeah, I guess it might now after Mr. Smiley had to go through all those lawsuits." Lars snickered.

"Are we tall enough to ride?" Lapis asked sincerely.

Lars snorted, "Well _I'm_ definitely tall enough to ride."

Lapis frowned, and promptly stopped Lars' laughter when she took a large step forward so she was standing right in front of him, so close so their noses were nearly touching as she looked up at him.

"Uh-what-"

"You're not that much taller than me," Lapis said, measuring their height differences with her hand. She didn't notice the way Lars was blushing uncomfortably, too concerned with the top of his head. "I'd say only two inches or so." Lapis stepped away and tilted her head at him. "You're quite tall for a human."

And then she began walking towards the ride entrance, not even bothering to turn around to see if he'd followed her. Lars gaped at her before clearing his throat and quickly composed himself, catching up with her just as Mr. Smiley asked for a ticket.

Lars rolled his eyes but handed over the twelve tickets the man asked for before they were allowed to pass through.

The fact that Lapis and Lars were the only two people going on the most popular ride in the entire amusement park was a testament to what an odd time of the season it was to be at Funland.

Mr. Smiley made sure they were strapped in tight before he started the ride and the coaster began it's ascent until the drop off. Lars crossed his arms, intent on remaining calm and cool throughout the entire minute and a half the ride would last.

As they were going up, Lars was able to get a view of all the expanse that was Funland. He looked over it thoughtfully, it suddenly hitting him that he hadn't been on The Appalachian since he'd been a preteen. He and Ronaldo had once spent countless summer days at the amusement park. It was odd, seeing it now, so empty compared to those hot summer days. It almost looked as though Funland had stopped running since those days and was now just a distant memory.

Lars looked over at Lapis to see if she was also looking over the view of Funland, but her gaze was staring in the opposite direction. Lars leaned forward a little to try and see what she was staring at, but all he could see was the ocean.

And then they were descending into a flurry of tight turns, steep slopes, and thrilling loops.

Lapis smiled and closed her eyes as they went down another descent, enjoying the odd and yet pleasant feeling of her insides sinking as they went down. Lapis didn't think she would ever get tired of that feeling, or of how it felt to have the breeze flow through her hair. She thought that roller coasters were probably the closest humans could get to flying.

Lapis thought that Lars must have been really enjoying it as well. When the ride had had first started, Lapis could sense that Lars had been holding back, but he was well past that now, arms raised as he whooped and cheered.

When it was over, Lars was laughing, his hair windswept. He looked...exhilarated.

When Lars noticed that Lapis was staring at him curiously, he cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair before clambering out.

When Lapis had climbed out as well, Mr. Smiley was quick to run to their sides, urging them towards a nearby screen giving previews of photographs taken during the ride. Curious, the two went to look at the moment captured.

"I want it." Lapis said, her eyes trained on the screen.

Lars frowned at the picture. It wasn't exactly a terrible picture, although he looked far more gleeful in the picture than he would have liked. Meanwhile, Lapis looked like the picture of calm despite being on a high-speed roller coaster that usually had people screaming or laughing. The only indicator that perhaps Lapis had enjoyed the roller coaster ride was the small half smile on her lips.

Lars turned to look at Lapis and right into her large blue eyes looking up at him. They weren't exactly pleading, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know how she would look if he told her no.

With a sigh, Lars asked Mr. Smiley how much for a print of the picture.

"Oh, son, a memory at Beach City Funland? It's priceless! But for you, twenty dollars."

"WHAT? TWENTY DOLLARS! FOR ONE PICTURE?!" Lars shouted, his face heating up.

Mr. Smiley's grin did not falter.

Lars sighed but eventually relinquished a twenty dollar bill, grumbling the entire time. Mr. Smiley flashed him a wink and then printed a copy of the picture before handing it over to Lapis.

As the two walked, Lars started to head towards the exit, but then his stomach growled and he realized that he hadn't eaten all day as he'd ditched school before he could even dig into his lunch.

"Are you hungry?" Lars asked Lapis. Lapis shrugged, and he figured it was the as much of an answer as he was going to get. Lars bought food from Wiener in Hand before the two sat at a small table on the boardwalk.

Lars was halfway through his hot dog when he noticed that Lapis hadn't even touched hers.

"Aren't you hungry?" Lars asked through a mouthful of hot dog, immediately regretting not having chewed and swallowed when Lapis wrinkled her nose at him.

Lapis stared down at her plate before she narrowed her eyes at it and then looked away. "Gems don't eat."

Lars frowned at the new information. He would have never guessed that considering how many times Steven came into The Big Donut.

Lars grumbled something that sounded very much like "well, you could have said something before I bought _two_ hot dogs and _two_ cokes" before he pinched the edge of her plate and pulled it over to his side of the table.

"So, this what humans like to do for fun?" Lapis asked thoughtfully.

Lars chewed thoughtfully, "Some humans-I mean, people do. Mostly younger people."

"Are you very young?"

Lars sat a little straighter, "I'm not _that_ young. I'll be out of my teens in two years."

"How old are you?"

"I just turned seventeen a couple months ago actually."

"Seventeen...hundred?"

"What? No! Seventeen years old. Just seventeen."

Lapis' eyes widened. "You're only seventeen years old." Then more quietly, "Wow, they weren't kidding when they said all humans are very young."

Lars narrowed his eyes, "Wait, how old are _you_?"

"Six thousand, five hundred and eighty-three years."

Lars nearly spit his soda out. "You're nearly seven thousand years old?!"

Lapis nodded, then muttered bitterly. "Well, I suppose more like five hundred and eighty three years old since I spent six thousand years trapped in a mirror."

Lars was still reeling with the knowledge of just how old Lapis was. "Seven thousand years," he whispered to himself dizzily.

"So, what do _you_ do for fun?" Lapis asked, wanting to change the subject.

"What?" Lars asked, still feeling a little light-headed.

"You said Funland and amusement parks is something only _some_ humans do for fun. What do _you_ do for fun?" Lapis' sincere interest in his hobbies threw him off a little. It had been some time since someone had asked him that with real interest, so much so that he had to think about it for a moment.

"Well, I like going to the Underground Wrestling, and watching scary movies at the theater, listening to Aquaticus Baticus' latest hits, cook-" Lars caught himself. "And, um, other stuff."

Lapis nodded, "So what are we doing first tomorrow?"

Lars was taken aback. "You want to hang out...again?"

"Well, there's more to Beach City than just Funland isn't there? I want to see more of all the stuff you just said."

To say that Lars was shocked was understatement. It was hard enough to believe that Lapis had wanted to spend the day with him at Funland in the first place. It was hard to believe that she had wanted to keep a memento of their day with their roller coaster picture. What was even harder to believe was that she wanted a repeat of it again so soon. While Lapis hadn't seemed like she'd had a miserable time, she also hadn't seemed like she had particularly enjoyed herself either.

"Well...I mean, if you like." Lars said slowly, still unconvinced Lapis wanted to hang out again so soon, and doing something that involved Lars' own interests.

Lapis nodded.

Lars thought. "Well, there's a wrestling match tomorrow night at eight. We could go after I get out of work."

"Okay. Let's do that."

Lars blinked, surprised at how everything had been decided so quickly. Lapis on the other hand seemed completely at ease with it, her gaze turning once again to the ocean. There was longing in her eyes.

Lars chewed slowly on his last bite of hot dog as he watched her thoughtfully. He swallowed and asked, "Did you want to walk by the beach?"

The longing was replaced with pain and Lapis turned away from the ocean. "No. I think I'm done for the day."

Then she was standing and Lars nearly knocked over their table in his hurry to catch up with her.

Once they were back at the Funland entrance where they had met, Lars stared uncomfortably at his feet, struggling to find the right thing to say. How did one depart with a stranger they had spent the whole day with?

Before he could come up with something, Lapis sighed, "Well, I had...fun. Bye Lars."

Lars blushed. He couldn't remember the last time someone had told him that they'd had fun with him. Before he could work out an appropriate reply or a gentlemanly offer to walk her to the bus stop, wings made of water sprang from Lapis' back and she was leaping into the sky and flying away.

"Whoa," Lars breathed, staring after her until she'd disappeared from sight.

"You and your girlfriend should come by here more often kid." Lars snapped out of his awe to stare at Mr. Smiley who was grinning gleefully from his seat as he thumbed through all the cash Lars had spent that day.

Lars groaned and stomped off. What was it with people always automatically assuming he was boyfriend to whichever girl he happened to be hanging out with? Sadie was one thing, but did people really think he'd be dating a weird girl with blue hair and skin who didn't wear shoes?

Two odd days in a row, back to back.

Lars sighed, shaking his head, slowly contemplating his day.

It was as he was thinking the day over, the rides, the food, the picture, Lars slowly began to realize that what he'd just done with Lapis could almost be confused for...a date!

Lars groaned, burying his face in his hands. He could not believed he'd somehow just gone on a date with one of Steven's weird alien friends.

And he had another one tomorrow!

oOo

 _Author's Note_ : Please review to let me know what you think so far as well as any Beach City "dates" you'd like to Lars and Lapis in. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

oOo

Chapter 4

"So, you going to the wrestling match tonight?" Sadie asked.

"What?" Lars choked on his mouthful of donut.

Sadie seemed to find Lars' confusion endearing and she laughed, "The wrestling match? Tonight? Tiger Millionaire will be there? Seriously Lars, I would have thought you'd be all over this."

Lars blanched. How was he supposed to explain Lapis to Sadie? To anyone really, but especially Sadie. He swallowed nervously, "Oh, right, yeah. Yeah I knew, I'm just-I'm not going tonight."

Sadie looked even more confused than before. "You're not? _You're_ passing up a Tiger Millionaire match? But you love Tiger Millionaire."

"Yeah well, I'm not feeling that well. I think I ate something bad," Lars lied. "I think I'm just going to go home."

"Oh," Sadie said slowly. "Well, maybe I could make you some soup or some-"

"I don't need you to take care of me Sadie," Lars interrupted her, and he immediately regretted the bite in his tone when he saw the hurt expression on Sadie's face.

It wasn't the first time he'd been so rude to her, and like every other time she hadn't really deserved it. But it was too late for apologies now.

Or maybe it wasn't, he just wasn't really good at apologies.

So instead he rolled his eyes exasperatedly as though this was all her fault and grabbed his jacket, muttering that he'd see her tomorrow and walked out of the Donut Hole.

Outside, Lars took a deep breath and sighed, closing his eyes to level himself. When Lars opened his eyes he nearly jumped out of his skin because right there standing across the boardwalk was Lapis, completely still like a strange ghost out of a horror movie.

Stifling a yelp, Lars scrambled over across the boardwalk to her. "Why are you just standing there like a creep?"

Lapis' eyebrows furrowed. "I was watching you."

Like _that_ didn't seem any less creepy.

Lars looked over his shoulder to the donut shop where Sadie was thankfully distracted throwing out stale donuts.

"Come on." Lars grabbed Lapis by the wrist and dragged her away, not letting go until they were safely out of sight of the Big Donut.

"Was that Sadie?"

Lars nearly fainted. "How do you know who Sadie is?" Then he realized something. "And wait a minute, how did you know to go to the Big Donut? We never agreed on a meet-up spot last night?"

"Steven's mentioned you work here."

Lars groaned, "Does Steven talk to all the crystal gems about me?"

Lapis eyes narrowed at him. "I am _not_ a crystal gem."

Lars blinked, not having expected that to cause a' sudden change in Lapis' attitude. So _that_ seemed like a sore point. If he didn't know Lapis capabilities, he might have used it against her, but he didn't want to risk finding out what _else_ Lapis was capable of aside from literally taking away the entire ocean from Beach City.

Lars sighed, chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully before asking, "Well, are you ready to go?"

Lapis blinked, the anger she'd been feeling simmering away before she nodded.

Lars shuffled along, Lapis walking quietly aside him.

"So," Lars started, not liking the silence. "What exactly _has_ Steven said about me?"

Lapis shrugged, "That you're his best friend and that you work at the Big Donut and that you have a complicated relationship with Sadie and you like snakes. Or you don't. That's kind of up for debate actually."

Lars wanted to sink into the earth. Who did Steven think he was going around telling people he had a _complicated_ relationship with Sadie, whatever that meant. He wanted to argue, but then he thought better of discussing his relationships, or lack thereof, with Lapis.

They continued the rest of the way in relative silence.

When they finally arrived, Lars could have sworn that Mr. Smiley's smile became wider at his and Lapis' approach. Already, Lars wasn't particularly pleased that he was having to shell out more money here than he usually would have, but he especially didn't like that once again it was going to smug Mr. Smiley.

Lars paid for their tickets and the two found seats inside amongst the rows of metal folding chairs. Lars did his best to ignore the looks he and Lapis were getting which he was sure was due to Lapis' particular hue of hair and skin.

"So, what exactly is a wrestling match? And why does it have to be underground?" Lapis asked.

Before Lars could work up the outrage to ask how Lapis didn't know what wrestling was, the match began. Tonight Purple Puma and Tiger Millionaire were going up against Dashing Danny Doober and Handsome Hank Hackleshmidt and as soon as Tiger Millionaire came into the rink, Lars forgot himself and began cheering, standing as he raised a fist in the air.

Lapis stared up at Lars in shock, seeing him cheer in excitement along with the rest of the audience. He hadn't been kidding when he said he liked wrestling.

Lapis looked to the stage and her eyes widened even more as she saw who was in the rink. Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma were running in circles around the rink, pumping up the crowd. When Tiger Millionaire caught sight of Lars and Lapis, he did a double-take and blinked.

Lapis' lips slowly spread into a grin as she stared back at Steven and raised a hand to wave at him dazedly. Steven also broke out into a grin and waved at her.

"Did you see that? Did you see? Tiger Millionaire waved at me!" Lars shouted hysterically.

Lapis snorted and laughed, deciding to get comfortable. Just a few minutes ago Lars had sounded like he wasn't exactly Steven's biggest fan, and now he was cheering for him in a high-pitched tone so excitedly Lapis thought he might burst into tears at any moment. In fact, the entire crowd was cheering for this _Tiger Millionaire_ and _Purple Puma_. Were all these humans really so dense that they could see that Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma were actually Steven and Amethyst?

Lapis looked again at the cheering Lars and shook her head amusedly. She figured maybe she'd break the news to him another time and just enjoy the show for now. Lars certainly was. Lapis had to admit, Steven and Amethyst sure knew how to put on a show. After watching their little performance, she couldn't say she was too surprise by the fanbase they had somehow cultivated.

When the match was over and Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma were doing their victory lap around the rink, Lars sunk into his folding chair, tired from all the cheering he'd done.

"That was amazing," he sighed contentedly.

"It was actually really great." Lapis agreed, surprising him. He'd brought Lapis because she had asked him what he enjoyed doing, but he hadn't exactly been expecting her to really like it. Not even Sadie really enjoyed going to the wrestling matches. Usually she was just on her phone the whole time.

"Who was your favorite?" Lars asked, narrowing his eyes curiously.

Lapis smiled softly to herself, "Oh, _definitely_ Tiger Millionaire."

Lars eyes widened in awe before he grinned, "Tiger Millionaire is my favorite too!"

Lapis laughed with him. Lars was in a bit of a daze as he stared at her. She actually liked wrestling and to top it all off, she had the good sense to like his favorite wrestler.

As Lars watched her laugh though, his own laughter immediately died off when he was distracted by something over Lapis' shoulder.

This was just great. The Cool Kids were sitting just a few seats away at one of his favorite places in all of Beach City, and he was here with an alien. Lars paled and slouched in his seat, trying to avoid attention.

Lars waited until the Cool Kids seemed distracted before he clutched Lapis' wrist.

"Match's over, lets go," he said quickly.

It wasn't until they were outside and a few blocks away that Lars finally felt like he could breath. He couldn't believe it. This was the second time in one day someone had almost seen him with Lapis, first Sadie and now the Cool Kids. If he wasn't careful, soon all of Beach City worth caring about would know that he was hanging around with some strange blue girl. How would he even _begin_ to explain this weird deal he had with her?

"That was actually kind of fun," Lapis said thoughtfully, seemingly unaware of his inner turmoil as she stared up at the starry sky. "What are we doing next tomorrow?"

Lars wanted to groan in frustration. Had she really not had enough of Beach City by now?

"I can't hang out tomorrow. I've got school and I'm closing at work tomorrow." Lars told her, which wasn't a lie, but a good enough excuse.

"Oh," Lapis frowned, and Lars blinked in surprise.

Did Lapis actually seem disappointed?

Did she...look forward to hanging out with him?

"Ehm," Lars started, unsure what to say. When Lapis started to look away he blurted out, "B-But maybe we could catch a late movie _after_ I close?"

Lapis stared at him and then smiled.

"But this time meet me at the bus stop by Funland." Lars added.

oOo

Lapis waited at the bus stop like Lars had told her, swinging her feet as she sat on the bench. She was actually looking forward to going to see a movie. She had never seen a movie before, and from what Steven had previously told her, they were shorter than a tv season but longer than an episode. Lapis didn't think that anything could be better than Camp Pining Hearts, but then again, she didn't really have anything else to go off of.

Lapis stared down the street where she imagined Lars would be walking down soon to meet her.

Lars was an interesting human. Lapis wasn't really quite sure what to make of him. There were moments he seemed so sure of himself, almost pretentiously so, and he seemed to try really hard to keep himself calm and collected. But then there were other times when Lapis saw him stumble over his own words and blush. There were times she thought she saw a hint of...another side to Lars. One where he actually let himself have _fun_. A side where he let himself cheer and whoop like he had when he was on The Appalachian.

She could really pinpoint what else she thought of him, but she thought he was interesting, that was for sure.

Finally, Lars showed up, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of the red jacket he was wearing.

"Hey," he greeted flatly, and Lapis wondered if he was in a bad mood. "The bus should be here soon."

"Is a bus like a van?" Lapis asked, thinking of Steven's dad's vehicle.

Lars frowned, "What? No. A bus is like, public transportation, for people who don't have cars." At that last bit Lars blushed a little, although Lapis wasn't exactly sure why he should be embarrassed.

"So the bus is taking us to the movie?"

Lars nodded, plopping himself down beside Lapis. "Yeah, it's on the other side of Beach City and a little too far to walk."

Lapis thought over this as he stared Lars up and down, considering his length and estimated weight. "I could fly us there," Lapis finally said, standing and willing her water wings to sprout from her gem, the action of which made Lars yelp in surprise.

"What do you mean fly?" Lars squeaked.

Lapis flapped her wings gently so that she was only hovering slightly above the ground. "I mean I could carry you and fly us over to the movies so we wouldn't have to wait for the bus."

Lars gawked at her. "There is _no_ way I'm letting you fly me _anywhere_." Lars heard the sound of an approaching vehicle and saw that it was the city bus. He turned urgently to Lapis, "Besides, the bus is here. Now, put those away before somebody sees them!"

"Why should I care if somebody sees my wings?" Lapis asked, eyes narrowed, but she obliged him by touching the ground again and willing her wings away, seeing that they were making Lars uncomfortable.

Lars groaned, frustrated. "Because it's _weird_!"

Lapis narrowed her eyes at Lars, but then the bus had parked beside them and the entrance doors slid open. Lapis huffed and stepped into the bus, doing her best not to hesitate when she saw the strange insides of this vehicle, much larger than Greg's van. There were multiple seats for at least thirty people, although it was currently only occupied with about ten humans, all spread out throughout the bus.

Lapis looked over her shoulder to see Lars dropping silver coins into a box machine and the bus driver handing him two slips of paper. Lapis stuck her nose in the air and made for the empty seats at the back. She was halfway through the aisle in the middle of the bus when it started to move and Lapis was thrown off her footing.

She would have fallen backwards onto the floor had Lars not been standing behind her and was quick enough to catch her.

Lapis gasped as she fell back into Lars' arm. She could feel the solidity of his chest behind her. Lapis looked up and blinked at Lars who was staring down at her with equal surprise. He seemed just as shocked as she was that he had quick enough reflexes to catch her in time. Lapis watched curiously as his cheeks started to turn pink before he cleared his throat and quickly helped her to her feet again.

Lapis blinked and brushed away imaginary dust from her skirt before making her way again to seats in the back, walking more carefully as she acclimated to walking inside a moving vehicle.

Lars and Lapis sat silently for the entire ride until they arrived at the Beach City Theater.

Once they stood outside the theater, Lars checked his phone for the time before going down the list of the movies that were still playing this late at night.

"Okay, so these are our options, Harbinger 2, a horror movie, The Journal, some chick flick, and Funeral Crashers, some comedy I think." Lars explained.

Lapis wasn't sure what a 'chick flick' was. "What do you want to watch?"

Lars considered the question. "Well, I've been meaning to watch Harbinger 2, but it's a sequel, so you wouldn't really know what's going on. Besides, it's a horror movie, so you might be too scared."

Lapis raised an eyebrow at him, taking that as a challenge. "Are you sure _you're_ not the one who'd be scared?"

Lars scoffed at the suggestion. "Please! I watch horror movies almost every day. There's no way _I'd_ be scared."

"Oh yea? Prove it," Lapis challenge playfully.

Lars gawked at her before resolutely going over to the ticket booth and paying for two tickets to Harbinger 2.

Watching Harbinger 2 with Lapis turned out to actually be...fun. Lars hadn't expected to have such a good time with her. There weren't too many people at the theaters this late on a weeknight, so Lars and Lapis had the whole room to themselves.

Lars had underestimated Lapis. Not only was she not scared once, there were even a few moments when she laughed over the ridiculousness of it all. Lars had forgotten for a moment that Lapis was thousands of years old, and if she got herself into situations as scary as the ones Steven got himself into, then it probably took a lot to faze her. Lars didn't think about the fact that had he been watching the movie on his own, he would have been very disappointed at how once again production studios almost always only ever made sequels in a lame attempt to make a couple extra bucks. With Lapis though, he found himself actually having a good time, laughing with her every time what was intended to be jump-scare occurred and laughing with her during scenes that were embarrassingly supposed to strike fear.

When the movie was over and they walked out of the theater together, the two were still laughing.

"That was great!" Lapis laughed. "All those screams of terror sounded so fake! And is that red gunk really supposed to look like blood?"

"Tell me about it! I think my favorite part was when they cut the janitor's leg off. That was probably the worst quality of mannequin I've ever seen horror movies," Lars chortled.

"You mean they make more of these type of movies?" Lapis asked eagerly.

"Oh definitely. Don't let these put you off, some horror movies are actually really great, but there's lots of really bad ones too, a good chunk of them are sequels too," Lars explained as they made their way to the bus stop. "But there's some in every horror sub-genre like zombies, robots gone bad, monsters in the dark, ghosts, lab creatures, aliens-"

Lars blushed and stopped talking, digging his hands into his pockets, uncomfortable again. He looked up at the sign at the bus stop and groaned. "The busses stopped running for the night an hour ago."

Lapis stared at the sign and then shrugged, "I could fly us back."

Lars paled and shook his head, already walking ahead of her as he muttered, "That's ok."

Lapis stared after Lars curiously. It was interesting, how much Lars seemed to like 'horror movies' with monsters, strange paranormal activity, and aliens, but he seemed to hate all that stuff in real life. Lapis caught up with him and walked in silence alongside him for a while until she asked, "You don't like gems do you?"

Lars opened his mouth as if to protest but Lapis went on, no anger in her voice as she said, "That's okay. I'm not convinced I like humans yet either, despite their movie-making abilities."

Lars wanted to rebuttal that humans weren't that bad, but then he figured she would probably say the same about gems.

"Why don't you like gems?" Lapis asked. She didn't really care either way, but she was curious.

Lars stared at Lapis for a moment, wondering if this was some sort of trick, but she seemed sincere in her curiosity and devoid of judgement. So he sighed and began to try and explain, although it quickly turned into a rant. "I just- Everytime I'm dragged into some crazy situation, it's always because of Steven or his weird friends! Everywhere they go they leave destruction and chaos! Because of all that weird magic, my friends and I were nearly suffocated to death because of some weird plants, my throat was set on fire because of some weird fire dust on my donut, I was once stranded on an island for days, and I was nearly killed by a possessed lighthouse! I'm always getting dragged into crazy and dangerous life-threatening situations because of them. All I want is some peace and quiet, which is why I'm so glad that school's out for the summer in just one more week. That'll be one less thing I have to worry about."

Lapis listened to Lars' rant with large eyes. Steven had told her that Lars was his best friend, but she hadn't realized just how involved Lars was in it all. It sounded like Steven and the Crystal Gems had put him through a lot.

Lapis stared at the ground as she walked, listening to Lars' heavy breathing as he tried to calm himself once more.

"I know what it's like to just want some peace and quiet," Lapis spoke quietly. Lars stared at Lapis in surprise, nearly forgetting she was even there as he'd gone off on his verbal tirade. Lapis went on, "I know what it's like to not want to be dragged into Crystal Gem business. Things are much calmer now, but I just know it can't last."

Lars stared at Lapis, intrigued by what she'd said, but unsure how to ask any questions about it. So he decided to start small, just learning a little more about what these strange aliens were in the first place.

"So, you're _gems_?" Lars asked.

Lapis blinked and then smiled as she nodded. She quickened her steps a little so Lars could see the gem between her shoulder blades. "There's all kinds of gems, and many of each. We each have different abilities."

Lars didn't want to work himself up into another episode by asking what her skill set was, so instead he asked, "And none of you eat?"

Lapis laughed, "No, we don't need sustenance like your kind do."

Lars bristled at the 'your kind' bit and asked, "Well, do you sleep? Or do _your kind_ not need rest either?"

"We don't," Lapis smirked. "But Steven taught me how."

"Steven had to _teach_ you how to sleep?"

"It was really difficult, and I didn't really get it at first," Lapis admitted. "But now it's actually one of my favorite human activities."

"Well at least we have that in common," Lars snorted.

Lapis' eyes brightened, "You like to sleep too? Maybe we can sleep together sometime!"

Lapis watched in fascination as Lar's entire face turned red. Even his ears turned pink as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. "Wh-What?"

Lapis was confused. As far as she could tell, most humans slept, so she didn't see why he should seem embarrassed. "Don't you like sleeping?"

"Well, yeah but, we don't have to do that together," Lars said quickly, looking away.

Lapis could tell Lars wanted to change the subject so she asked instead, "Can I go to school with you?"

Lars could only imagine what type of a day he'd have if he brought a blue-skinned girl to school with him. Principal Mazur would probably expel him right then and there, not to mention what all his classmates would think.

"Ehm, trust me, school is probably the least fun one could have in Beach City," Lars explained just as they arrived a block away from his house. Lars thought for a moment. "We could go to Funland Arcade over the weekend instead. We didn't get to do that last time we were there."

Lapis seemed to think about this for a moment before seeming to trust his judgement and shrugged, "Sounds good to me."

Lars smiled a little as he watched Lapis fly away. After the good time he'd had with her tonight, he was actually kind of looking forward to hanging out with her again. He especially felt better hanging out with her now that he was convinced Lapis wouldn't purposely drag him into dangerous and wild situations. She seemed to want peace and quiet just as much he did.

Lapis' smile didn't disappear until he arrived home to find a bowl covered in foil on his doorstep.

Lars frowned as he picked it up and then blinked in surprise when he pulled away the foil to see that there was chicken noodle soup inside, still warm.

This kind gesture had Sadie written all over it.

Lars suddenly felt a sinking guilt in his stomach.

Watching horror movies was supposed to be his and Sadie's thing, and here he was having a great time watching horror movies with Lapis.

Lars sighed, not liking the turmoil he was feeling inside and went inside, sticking the chicken soup in the fridge before heading to bed.

oOo

 _Author's Note_ : I feel terrible for Sadie but otherwise hope you enjoyed. I don't have the next chapter finished yet and the term is starting again tomorrow so it might be a busy week which means less pleasure writing, but here's to hoping I find some time! Enjoy your week readers!


End file.
